This is an excerpt from author Mr. Michael Vass, from the www.blackentertainmentblog.com site, and creator of unique clothing lines found at www.cafepress.com/nova68:

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Now speaking of repeat offenders, guess who is back up to his seemingly old tricks. I am speaking of Mr. Calvin Broadus, aka Snoop Dogg. Like many rappers of the last decade or more, Mr. Broadus appears to draw charges like a light bulb. A growing favorite of his looks like potential criminal actions in airports. In this case his entourage was not involved, but Snoop Dogg did cause a stir trying to bring a police baton onto a plane.

The claim of Mr. Broadus, that he was unaware that such a weapon was banned rings false in my ears. In this day and age of enhanced paranoia at airports, where liquids are banned from flights, how does a reasonably intelligent person think a weapon is not banned. Equally tin sounding is the claim that this was a needed prop for a music video shoot. As if there is no prop manager in New York that could provide such an item for a video shoot. This is merely the hollow efforts of an entertainer to shift the blame from their own actions and to avoid punishment, as I see it.

Yet this belies the true question I have asked before. Why do rappers generate so many conflicts, violence and death? In this year I am sure I have mentioned a dozen times that one or another rapper was arrested for one thing or another. There have been several involved with deaths of individuals, and virtually all have involved weapons and/or violence not to mention drugs. And these entertainers are seen, especially in the Black culture and specifically by young African American males, as figures to be looked up to. I can’t understand why. Why would anyone want their child to follow in the footsteps of criminals and near-criminals. Who would want their child to grow up disrespecting all women and men. To be uneducated, apathetic, addicts, with multiple children and no hope of supporting or properly raising any of them.

Some may dispute this. But the truth is that all public figures are role models. Of all public figures, entertainers are where there is the largest concentration of African Americans. When those individuals promote base actions, subjective youth learn and follow this lead. It’s little different than when babies watch those around them to learn how to speak, learning language and accent. I see no argument that disputes this, but I’ve heard many that excuse it. Perhaps its time to stop excusing the poor actions of various segments of the Black community, and re-enforcing better actions.

This is what I think, what do you think?

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